Student sues Marion ISD over sexual assault by teacher

Former Marion High School substitute teacher Kyle Ray Kelso has been named in a federal lawsuit by a former student over an “inappropriate relationship.” Kelso is currently serving a prison sentence at Ellis Prison Unit in Huntsville after pleading guilty last year to three counts of sexual assault of a minor nand one count of an improper relationship. Marion Independent School District and Stacia Snyder, the high school’s principal, also were named in the lawsuit, filed last week in San Antonio.

Photo: Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office

A Marion High School student is suing the principal, school district and a former teacher who’s currently sitting in the Ellis Prison Unit in Huntsville for sexually assaulting the plaintiff and another minor.

The federal lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against school Principal Stacia Snyder, the Marion Independent School District and the former teacher, Kyle Ray Kelso.

Kelso, 45, last year pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of improper relationship between an educator and a student. He was sentenced to 15 years on each of the sex assault charges and 10 years on the improper-relationship charge.

Kelso, who is serving the sentences concurrently, is scheduled for release in late 2030 but is eligible for parole in June 2023, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s website.

The teacher was first arrested in September 2015 on one charge of sexual assault of a child and for the improper relationship. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in January 2016. He was arrested again in May 2016 when a second victim came forward.

The suit was brought by a John Doe, individually and as “next of friend” of Sarah Doe, who is a minor. San Antonio attorney Marisa Ayon, who filed the suit, declined to comment without her clients’ permission.

Kelly Walters, the district’s superintendent, said she had no comment because the district has not yet been served with the suit.

The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, alleges violations of the civil rights law known as Title IX, which forbids gender-based harassment and discrimination. The district, its employees and representatives were “deliberately indifferent” to harassment and discrimination against Sarah Doe, the suit further alleges.

The suit says Kelso began to “show favoritism” to Sarah Doe in November 2014 by inviting her to eat with him in his classroom. Kelso was allowed to travel with underage female students for competitions without any other chaperones. He would enter the girls’ dorm rooms and leave flowers, notes and “other tokens of affection,” the suit adds.

The next month, Kelso and Sarah Doe engaged in sexual intercourse. The student ultimately told a classmate about the relationship in September 2015. Marion High School then notified authorities, the suit says.

The suit adds that Sarah Doe has suffered “severe emotional distress” and “mental anguish” as a result of Kelso’s actions. Kelso’s employment by the district constituted “negligent hiring,” the suit says. Snyder and the district also have been sued for negligence; the suit says they had a legal duty to protect Sarah Doe’s constitutional rights.